Persona: Avalon
by Neomycin
Summary: In the small town of Danann, a new group of persona users will come together. A new and reluctant fool, Samuel Locke, will have to rise to the occasion and lead this group of allies against a sinister force that threatens to unleash an oncoming darkness.
1. Chapter 1 - The Golden Butterfly

Chapter 1 – The Golden Butterfly

_August 29, 2011_ / _Townsend Household_ / _5:00 PM_

The setting sun beat down through the open window of Sam Locke's room. The loud buzzing of cicadas, interspersed with the laughter of children enjoying the last few days of their summer break, filled the air. Sam was perched at his computer looking out the window and hoping for the slight breeze to come in and cool down the room. Despite living in the generally chilly northeastern United States town of Danann, it still got muggy in the summer and today was no different. He turned back to his monitor and skimmed the open webpage. He had been reading some comments on a random message board but had little interest in the topic. To be fair, it was just a way to pass the time until dinner.

Sam let out a loud sigh and looked out the window again seeing young children running around outside. School was about to pick up again and he would be a junior in high school. Unlike most of his fellow classmates, there was not a sense of dread with the thought of going back to the rote school routine. In fact, Sam rather enjoyed classes. However, there was the sense of anxiety with the people he would have to face.

Amongst most of the students he was seen as a loner but it had not always been that way. When he was younger he had a plethora of friends and was quite sociable, but that was in the past…before he lost someone important to him, eight years ago.

After that, he started to avoid most people. They tried to have him open up to them, but he never wanted to talk about it. He hated when people reminded him of what he lost. Soon enough people got tired of Sam ignoring them and after some time they started drifting away. Even many he had considered his friends had abandoned him.

Sam closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to dispel those memories. It was not something that he wanted to dwell on.

A short chime stirred him from his thoughts, and an image notification alerted him to a chat message with one of the few friends he had, Daniel Park.

Hexatonic: _yo Sam. how ya doing?_

Caliburn: _hey. i'm fine Dan_

Dan wasn't like the others. Back then, Dan never asked Sam him about the incident. He was smarter than that. Even after the others started avoiding Sam, Dan would still join him for lunches and group up with him on projects. He made an effort to keep sticking by Sam, and above all else, he just spoke to him like a normal person. Sam appreciated that and Dan was one of the few people he opened up to.

Hexatonic: _cool. hey, check out the first thread on the student forum_

Caliburn: _k_

Sam went over to the student forum for his school. His eyes were drawn to the top thread, which was entitled "School Rumor: The Other World". His expression fell and he scoffed in disbelief.

Caliburn: _you serious?_

Hexatonic: _just read it_

Dan was an extremely intelligent guy, and it wasn't like him to be into supernatural hogwash. However, Sam relented. He sighed and began to read through the thread.

Apparently, the rumor involved a website that showed a live video feed of their town, or what they assumed what was their town. The video feed was fuzzy and hard to read, but it looked like the main street of Danann. However, it was hued green and overgrown with plants and the buildings were dilapidated. The camera would change feeds every thirty seconds showing different parts of the town in the overgrown state. A link was attached to the thread, which was odd because the school forum had disallowed links. He had avoided the temptation of clicking it.

_This is probably just some elaborate hoax._ Sam reasoned with himself.

Caliburn:_ i thought you weren't the superstitious type…who wrote this anyway?_

Hexatonic: _i'm not and no idea._

Caliburn: _what did the admins say?_

Hexatonic: _they tried deleting the thread, but it won't go down…kinda strange if you ask me_

Caliburn: _probably some troll just getting some kicks_

Hexatonic: _yea, but it's all anyone will talk about, and it beats the annoying complaints about school starting up again...but if you follow the link and give an email address, phone app will be sent. no one is sure what it does…all it says is that it'll only work in the future at a specific location_

Caliburn: _wait….did you follow that link?_

Hexatonic: _uhh…nah i just heard it from someone_

Caliburn: _riiiight…cause this_ _sounds like some sort of identity theft scam_

Hexatonic: _tell me about it…_

Sam was not convinced in the slightest. He took a look at the thread again and couldn't believe what he was reading. It all sounded like utter nonsense and it was weird that Dan had even brought it up. He was more of a realist about these sorts of things…It suddenly dawned on him; Dan had slightly ulterior motives about mentioning this to him.

_Oh man…I bet he is going to drag me into this nonsense isn't he?_ Sam groaned.

Dan had a penchant for wanting to dispel rumors, ever since they started hanging out. It was odd but Sam believed it started when someone started spreading rumors about how the two quiet boys years ago. Sam never heard what the rumors were, but he had a good idea of what it might have entailed, seeing how fervent Dan was at getting them disproven. It had eventually grown to Dan wanting to dispel all sorts of rumors. For someone so smart, he could be a little overzealous about things.

Caliburn: _hold on….are you trying to go about messing with this? you CAN'T be this gullible…can you?_

Hexatonic: _WHAT?! no. nah! no. …no_

Sam mentally sweat dropped. _Nailed it…_

Hexatonic: _Anyway, did you get your class assignments? What homeroom are you in?_

It was obvious that Dan was trying to quickly change the subject. His nervous habit of typing in proper grammar was propping up.

_I may as well go along with this_. Sam drew out a long sigh and shook his head. They concluded their conversation with small talk about the upcoming school year and agreed to meet up a few days before classes started to hang out.

While he was mulling about this turn of events, a cool breeze managed to make its way through the window, adequately cooling the room down. He turned to close the window and caught a glimpse of a bright flicker out of the corner of his eye. It was a glowing golden butterfly flittering about his room.

_Strange…how did that get in here?_ Sam pondered as he gazed into the glowing figure.

The color was absolutely exotic and its movements enraptured Sam. He couldn't help but to gaze upon the graceful figure. As he stared into the figure, he felt his head begin to swirl and his vision fade into black.

()()()()

As soon as his vision came into focus, Sam found himself in a bizarre new environment. He frantically started surveying his surroundings. He was standing on a checkerboard patterned circular rotunda with six pillars holding up an overhanging roof, all which seemed to be set in a vast star lit backdrop. Finally he saw a glow of golden light coming from behind him and turned to the source.

"What the hell?!" he shouted as he fell on his back from shock. It was a massive golden door with enormous eyes that periodically shifted as if searching for something. High up near the center of the door, Sam could barely make out a stone figure that seemed chained to the huge structure. It was unlike anything he had ever seen and he caught himself shivering from fright.

"Welcome," said a deep voice coming from behind him. Sam turned his head to see the source of the greeting. In the center of the arena was a man wearing a mask adorned with a butterfly design.

The figure bowed as he continued, "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Philemon, a dweller between consciousness and unconsciousness. Now for a simple test, can you state your name?"

Sam just stared at the man for a moment, in disbelief of the whole situation. His quivering stopped after seeing the man, and he quickly picked himself up off the floor, slightly embarrassed he let someone see him in such a state. While his mind raced with a million questions to ask masked man, an inkling feeling told him he should do as the man said before asking questions. It took him a moment to recollect his composure before he was capable of answering Philemon.

"My name is Samuel Locke, Sam for short."

The masked figure nodded, "Splendid! Thank you for sharing your name with me. Few can retain their identity while in this domain. You have passed my test."

_Why am I being tested, and what is up with this place? _Sam guarded himself. While he didn't sense any malevolence from the masked man, it was better to be safe than sorry.

"But tell me, do you know about the many selves that are harbored within you? The selves suffused with divine love? The selves capable of demonic cruelty," Philemon paused and spread his arms out in a lecturing gesture, "People live by wearing innumerable different masks. You yourself have faced a troubling experience in the past, and you disguise that pain and your fears with a cold mask…"

Sam's eyes narrowed after hearing that. _What does this guy know about me…and how?_ He began to glare at the masked figure. It wasn't that he was wrong, but to hear it so bluntly and from a complete stranger was disquieting.

Whether Philemon noticed Sam's glare, he made no change in his tone and he continued, "Despite that, you have a firm grip of your true identity, you realize that you wear those masks, and you are unbending when it comes to your ideals. I respect your strong will. In return I grant this power. Persona. It is the power to summon the selves within you. The gods and demons you harbor."

Sam was getting tired of this information dump. Everything Philemon had been telling him just added to the multitude of questions the boy had for the man.

He held his hands up in order to get a word in, "Hold on! Just what is this place, what is up with that door?! And what do you mean power?"

"I can answer your first and third questions. The second one is not for me to answer at this time," replied the man.

Sam was about to protest but was stopped by Philemon continuing, "This place is the collective unconscious. Think of it as the entirety of humanity's subconscious thoughts and feelings that has taken the form of this location. It lies in the backdrop of the Sea of Souls, a place where all souls originate and return.

"As for your power, it called 'Persona', and it is a way for you to battle the shadows that lurk within the hearts of mankind."

He saw from Sam's furrowed brow that the rush of information and his relative vagueness was starting to wear the boy out and he chuckled lightly.

"You'll come to understand in due time," he said in a nurturing tone. However, he quickly changed to a more serious voice as he continued, "Just know that your future and the fate of your loved ones are in a precarious position…you will have to take responsibility for the consequences of the choices you will make."

_My loved ones? Precarious position? What sort of mess have I gotten into?_ _He is starting to make me sound like some sort of hero...No thanks._ Sam was starting to get concerned as Philemon kept with his speech.

"However, while the choices you make are yours alone, you won't be unaided in your journey. A subordinate of mine will assist you in your journey, and I will be watching over you. Furthermore the bonds you make across your experience will provide you with greater strength than you can imagine."

Sam huffed but relented for now, "I'm not sure I understand, but I'll take your word for it." While all of this was a bit much he had so many more questions, but he figured that he wasn't going to get many more answers that made sense.

The masked figure simply nodded, "Now you must return to your proper time and place."

As soon as Philemon said that, Sam's vision began to blur in similar fashion as when he entered the strange realm.

()()()()

"Sam…Sam" spoke a soft voice.

Sam awoke from his daze to see a young boy at the doorway to his room. After taking a look at the boy he started to scan the room for the butterfly, but after a quick inspection he could not find it. He turned to face the boy.

"Oh, hey Glenn. What's up?" He asked with a smile. Glenn was the Townsends' ten year old son. He stayed in the room next to Sam. In the eight years that he stayed with them, Sam grew to treat the boy as a younger brother, and Glenn saw him as an elder sibling.

"Ma wanted me to tell you to wash up and come down for dinner…Are you okay?" Glenn showed concern over Sam's odd behavior.

Sam nodded and smiled in order to relieve the boy, "Yea, I guess I was napping or something. Tell your mom I'm on my way down."

Glenn smiled, nodded, and quickly went down the stairs. He was eager to start dinner. As Sam walked out of the room, he let out a sigh, wondering if everything was just a dream. It definitely felt real enough, and while he was slightly frightened of what he saw, he was definitely intrigued.

On the other side of his closed window, a golden butterfly fluttered about.

()()()()

_August 30, 2011_ / _?_ / _00:00 AM_

Darkness permeated throughout the building, and the atmosphere was hazy and oppressive. In the center a figure could be seen sitting atop a large set of crates. The being began to chuckle as its eyes began to glow a sickly yellow color.

"So you've finally begun to move, 'eh Philemon?" mused the figure as a thin smile crept up on its face. It turned to face its accomplice who was facing three large monitors and typing away.

"Of course, all the preparations are completed and we will be able to initiate the first phases of the plan," The person at the computer was a male and his glasses could be seen from the faint glow of the monitors, but nothing else could really be gleaned.

He then began to complain about his work, "I still don't understand why you have me working on such a menial task. Are you not able to conjure up this on your own? I should be continuing my research on the data collected from the anti-shadow weapon and those children from four months ago. In comparison this really just seems like a waste of ti– " He was stopped by a piercing glare from the glowing eyed figure.

It turned the man's chair in order to have him facing it and then began to grin wickedly, "Just think of it as a side project. It will all fit, in the grand scheme of everything. I'm having you work on it to provide some legitimacy, and my powers have been preventing anyone from tracing you…" However its expression quickly turned sour and he spoke with a booming voice, "**You should know better than to question me. Do I make myself clear?**"

The bespectacled man froze for a moment and began to quiver in terror. He silently nodded, fearing what the being would do if it heard his voice.

"Good," the figure did not enjoying employing the services of this human, but if it was to further the plan, then there was not much of a choice.

_A troubling contradiction indeed._ There were other pawns but this one had experience in dealing with personas, shadows, and anti-shadow weapons. In addition, he had the tech savvy to set up its plan.

It glanced over at the man who quickly turned back to the monitor to avoid its gaze, "When you are done, send the messages; in the mean time I'll go see our acquaintance about her end of the deal."

With that the black figure vanished, leaving the quaking man to continue working at his computer.

* * *

A/N: Well here is the start of a new story. My original upload didn't have my sequence breakers in them, so I had to reupload, but it should be good now. Hopefully everything goes well. If you have any tips or criticisms please let me know. It is good to see things from multiple perspectives. Major props to MoldyJellyBean who has been giving me tips and been a big help. Check out his AMAZING story Persona: the Nameless. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2 - The Velvet Room

Chapter 2 – The Velvet Room

_Friday, September 2, 2011_ / _Townsend Household_ / _12:00 PM_

Five days passed since the incident with the golden butterfly, and Sam noted that nothing strange happened since then. As the days dragged by, he had expected something equally bizarre would creep up on him after his exchange with Philemon. However, with the absence of any such occurrence, that event seemed to be nothing more than just a peculiar dream.

Forgetting about the starlit void, the masked fellow, and the colossal golden door out of his mind was proving a more difficult task than Sam initially thought.

_Ugh…this is so boring._ Sam rubbed his eyes while looking at his computer monitor. He was revising an essay he had to write over the summer for his literature class, but his progress had ground to a halt. He had actually finished the paper a few weeks back, but he decided to hold off on his revision until his thoughts settled on the subject.

He looked at the clock. It was going to be a few more hours before he went over to The Lounge, a local hangout, and meet up with Dan. The plan was to revise each other's papers, but he and Dan knew that they were probably going to spend all their time playing pool.

Once Sam was thoroughly fed up with his assignment, he decided to head over to Glenn's room and see if he needed help with any of his summer work. The young boy was heading to middle school this year, and Sam figured it would be wise to make sure that he was ready for the transition.

Glenn's room was much more vibrant than Sam's. In contrast to Sam's room, which was bare and mostly dark blue, Glenn's was a shade of sky blue with posters and photos littered all across the walls. Atop a dresser was a set of trophies and medals from the little league baseball games that the eleven year old participated in.

Across the room he saw a groaning ten year old boy running his hands through his light brown mop of hair. Going off of the child's narrowing hazel eyes, it was becoming abundantly clear that Glenn was not going to finish his assignment. He failed to notice the entrance of the tall teenager, who tiptoed his way behind the smaller boy.

"Hey there short stuff!" exclaimed Sam. His loud greeting caused the small boy to jump from his seat. Glenn turned around and puffed his cheeks out, faking an upset look.

"I'm not short!" he retorted loudly. Sam chuckled and ruffled the youngster's head as Glenn simply growled. Sam found the tough kid act pretty amusing but removed his hand from Glenn's skull. The young boy took a look at his reflection in his window and pouted as he began to fix his hair.

"You working on math?" asked Sam as he took a look at the work on Glenn's desk.

"Yea. I'm on the last page of the worksheet my school gave me. It's getting kinda hard," said Glenn as he finished fixing his hair.

"Want help?" the older boy asked. He figured it would be a good way to see where Glenn was at with his studies. The smaller child grinned and nodded vigorously. For him it was a double win. He got to finish his work faster and hang out with Sam in the process.

Sam gave a small smile, "Alrighty kiddo, let's get started."

Over the next hour the pair worked on Glenn's school packet, reviewing past concepts and answering questions that the growing middle schooler had. Every now and then Glenn would get frustrated with some of the questions but working with Sam made understanding everything much easier, on top of numbing the pain of doing homework.

As they were nearing the end of his questions, the young boy looked up at his surrogate older brother with concern in his eyes, "Hey… Sam?"

"Yeah?" Sam caught the worried look in Glenn's eyes, curious as to what was bothering him.

"Is..." Glenn paused, looking down while fidgeting with his shirt. "Is middle school scary?"

Sam was slightly taken aback. That wasn't quite the question he was expecting out of the blue, but he figured he should have been prepared for it. His own middle school years weren't exactly the typical example of most students' experiences.

"It can be kiddo. It'll be the start of a lot of changes for kids your age. They'll be kinda weird, but you're a tough kid. You can handle it, besides aren't your friends from little league going to your school?"

"Yea, a lot of them are! I'm really glad that Joey, Miguel, and Kaz are going to be in my class too!" Glenn replied with a grin.

"Well then you're set! I think as long as you have a few good friends, you'll be fine. The transition to high school will be tougher, for sure. But this'll be a sort of a stepping stone to that. Just be sure to be open to new experiences…" Sam began to trail off as he began to think about his own time in middle school. It wasn't easy for him, considering how his life had been changed radically only a few years before he entered middle school. He didn't have many friends. In fact, Dan was the only real friend he felt he had, and he began to wonder if he had any right in soliciting that advice to Glenn. His gut instinct told him it was the right thing to say to Glenn… something his dad would have said.

The boy nodded in understanding, "I see." He then looked up at the teen with another question, "Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you don't have more friends?" Glenn questioned in a hushed tone.

The question stunned Sam. Glenn quickly followed up as soon as he saw the surprised look on Sam's face, "I-I m-m-mean you _are_ really nice and fun! You watch over me a lot and you come to a lot of my little league games. A-and when you're with Dan you guys are really funny too! I don't get it. You're so much cooler than the other teens my friends talk about, so why? Why are you always alone?"

"Wha-? Uh…I-I…" Sam stuttered for a while and froze. It was as if Glenn had read his mind. He appreciated Glenn's sentiment toward him and took pride in how highly he thought of him. He was also surprised at how observant the kid actually was. However, the Sam wasn't particularly fond of speaking of his relationship with others. "I just don't like to get attached to people too easily. I guess I prefer to stay alone. Heck, the only reason Dan became my friend was because he was so persistent."

"Does it have something to do with your dad?" Glenn asked meekly, quickly realizing that he probably shouldn't have asked that when Sam's face hardened. It was not a subject that he liked to discuss with anyone, even his foster family.

"Yeah, sorta...Look can we just drop this?" He spoke bluntly, causing Glenn to shrink in his seat from the icy edge in Sam's tone. The room quickly lapsed into an awkward silence. Every moment that passed between the two felt like an eternity. Sam's mind was racing, wondering what to say to fix the situation between the two.

He was surprised when it was Glenn that broke the silence, "I'm sorry."

Sam sighed. He shouldn't have snapped at Glenn that way, it wasn't his fault, "No, I should be sorry. You aren't wrong. I just don't like to talk about that."

He smiled at Glenn weakly and received one in return.

There was another long pause between the two before Glenn spoke up again, "When you said you don't like to get attached to people, does that include me and my parents?"

"What are ya talkin' about?" Sam said, giving him a look of incredulity, "Of course not! You and me, we're two peas in a pod, and I'm forever grateful to your folks for takin' me in." This time he gave the boy a large grin and a light noogie, "Besides, I gotta keep you in line!"

"Hey!" The young boy shouted and grabbed onto the teen, dropping him onto the floor. Laughing they began a miniature noggie war on the ground until they heard a knock on the door. They both looked toward the entrance and immediately stopped their small wrestling match.

A fairly tall woman in her thirties, with long, red hair, walked in to the room with her hands on her hips, giving the two wrestling boys a stern look. They quickly got up and began patting themselves down. Sam was fixing his short, wavy, dark brown hair before his brown eyes caught a glimpse of the lady staring at him, with her hazel eyes boring into Sam. Sam's eyes were darting around nervously. _Oh crap, is she mad?_

Her serious look eventually cracked as she broke out into laughter at the anxious teen, "You should see how scared you were Sam!"

Sam sighed in relief, "That wasn't funny Dr. Townsend."

"Neither is the noise from your roughhousing!" She retorted.

"Sorry ma," Glenn replied.

"Sorry ma'am," Sam said at the same time.

She let out another laugh at the boys' mirrored reactions and shook her head, "It's alright boys. I made some snacks for you. Come on downstairs and grab some."

Glenn immediately perked up and darted down the stairs. Sam and Dr. Townsend just walked out into the hallway as they made their way down the stairs.

"So, you going to The Lounge to meet some new friends?" she asked expectantly. She cared about the boy's well being and didn't like seeing his lack of serious friendships.

The implication of Dr. Townsend's question was painfully obvious. He had already been through this conversation with Glenn and had no intention of having it again with Dr. Townsend, "Just Dan."

"Oh," she said disappointedly. She looked at him with a serious look in her eye, "A new school year is coming up, and I'm just worried about you sometimes."

He gave her a dry grin, "Glenn sure takes after you. He told me the same thing. I'll be fine."

Dr. Townsend relented. She had this discussion with him before and decided to drop the issue. While she still had her concerns, she had lived with Sam for eight years and knew that he was a good kid. She just hoped that he would open up some more after all this time.

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, she flashed him a grin, "We better get to the kitchen before Glenn wolfs down all the snacks."

()()()()

_Friday, September 2, 2011_ / _The Lounge_ / 6_:30 PM_

The Lounge was a cornucopia of activities for the local teens in Danann. It was basically a recreational center that was run by the community in order to have a place for them to stay out of trouble. There was billiards, a small arcade, lounges with various games set up, meeting rooms, food available for purchase, and various other things to do. Outside there was a large open field where sports could be played and benches for relaxing in the nice weather.

A single dim light bulb shone over green felt. Soft voices could be heard in the background as the clacking of pool balls filled the room. The cue ball rolled into the two ball and forced it into a corner pocket. It also set up a shot for the four ball and possibly the seven ball. Sam scowled; Dan was way too good at this game.

They had originally planned to work on their papers, but after a cursory glance at each others' work, they deemed the papers were done well enough and proceeded to rack up billiards balls. Sam had regretted it ever since.

"Ha ha! I'm on fire!" shouted the tall, thin, spectacled boy as he moved his black hair out from in front of his black eyes.

"Yeah yeah, just take your shot already," muttered Sam who was rolling his eyes.

"Aww, who's being a big baby all of a sudden?" grinned Dan. Sam glared at his friend who simply shrugged, "Fine fine, I'm going already."

Sam looked back at the table. Dan pocketed the aforementioned four and seven ball but couldn't easily sink any others, so he set up a difficult shot for Sam. He groaned as he began to concentrate on lining up his shot. Dan decided to strike up a conversation concerning their future classmates.

"So you hear we got a new student coming to our school soon?" asked Dan.

"Hn," grunted the focusing boy as he managed to sink a ball.

Dan continued with his story, "I hear it's a girl, and her dad is the new pastor for the church,"

"Uh-huh," he answered flatly. It was increasingly clear to Dan that Sam wasn't paying attention at all.

Dan was getting annoyed at being ignored by Sam. He decided to mix it up a little bit in hopes of getting an actual response, "I also hear that you are an idiot that can't count higher than ten without your toes."

"Yep," Sam replied, getting ready to pocket another ball.

"Dammit man, wake up!" shouted Dan, startling Sam and causing him to scratch his shot.

Sam shot Dan an angry look while gritting his teeth. "Eh, what? I'm listenin' something about your new song right?"

"Sam…" Dan replied with a disapproving tone.

"What?" Sam moaned, "Is there a reason you made me scratch?"

"Oh, ya know, I just wanted to chew the fat, talk about the kids, and reminisce about the good ole' days," Dan answered, sarcasm dripping with every word.

Sam looked at him with a confused look, "What? So you broke my concentration for some nonsense?"

"Of course not! If you had been **listening**, you'd have knownI was talking about the new student," exclaimed Dan. Despite the quiet demeanor that he put on around strangers and acquaintances, those who got to know him personally saw the excitable, loud, and passionate side of him that betrayed any initial impressions.

"More gossip?" Sam sighed as he took a seat by the table. He wasn't particularly interested in talking about school but relented if only to get Dan off of his back.

"It isn't gossip, I'm just stating facts," Dan replied as he started to pocket more pool balls. Eventually he took a seat next to Sam and motioned for him to take his turn.

"Right, right. Well, I guess she'll have a grand time out in this small town," Sam said while taking a sip of the sports drink at his side. He got up and walked toward the table and continued with his opinion of Danann, "Although, if she's a preacher's girl, she might just fit in with this quiet and dull place."

Dan just shrugged, "I suppose. Ya know you really should take more of an interest into your fellow students, man."

Sam gave him a disapproving stare and responded with a curt, "Really?"

"I'm just sayin'," Dan said while taking a sip of his own drink.

"You know how I feel about those things," he muttered while taking his shot.

"Look I'm not saying you should marry them, I mean, just get to know them. You spend all that time with the boxing club and with us in the jazz band, but you hardly know the folk in them," Dan said measured concern. He knew Sam hated other people worrying about him, but it had been eight years since they had become best friends and Sam still hadn't opened up to anyone except the Townsends and himself. He would bring up the issue every once in a while but never press it.

"When did you become my mom all of a sudden, and why is everyone getting on my back about this stuff?" Sam muttered while rubbing his forehead. He was getting flashbacks from his talk early with Glenn and Dr. Townsend, and now his best friend was getting on his case about his relationships.

"Just consider it, will ya?" Dan decided to leave it at that. He realized that he must have received a similar speech from someone else and didn't want to keep bothering Sam.

"We'll see." Ever since he had that conversation with Dr. Townsend earlier in the day the issue was on his mind. While he was getting rather annoyed with the concern about his lack of friendships, the thought started to nag at him. His little episode a week earlier with Philemon also managed to creep back into his mind.

_He mentioned bonds that I'd make through some "journey" and a crisis facing my "loved ones". I wonder…_

"How are those clubs by the way?" Dan asked hoping to pull the conversation in a less awkward direction.

Sam broke away from his thoughts of what the masked figure had said and responded, "I'll be going back to them I suppose. They won't start until a week after the first day of classes anyway. How is your songwriting? Your folks still nagging you about it?"

Dan's parents were the stereotypical Asian parents (Korean he would always point out) and would always nag him about things that interfered with his studies, and that included his songwriting. Dan always loved blues and jazz, and it was something the two of them bonded over. He often wrote jazz pieces using software on his computer. It was something he had studied ever since freshman year and he had an extreme talent for it. His works were so good that he even wrote some songs that Sam and the school's jazz ensemble played.

He grabbed his backpack and pulled out a flash drive and handed it to Sam, "Just the typical complaining, but as long as I keep up the grades they won't hassle me too much about it. I actually have a copy with me. Listen to it while you head home and tell me what you think."

He took the drive and began to upload the song to his phone via his laptop, "Thanks, I will. Oh, that reminds me. Did you ever dig up anything on that weird phone app?"

"Huh? Oh yea. Apparently something new will open up next Friday. I've been meaning to pick at the code but I've been too busy with working on the essay and my song to mess with it," he shrugged. Alongside his musical hobbies, Dan was adept with coding and computers. He even made modifications to his music writing programs.

"I still think it's a scam," Sam said shaking his head. The whole thing was fishy and he didn't really want to take part in any of it, but knowing Dan he'd be roped into it somehow.

"Yea…well about that. Check your e-mail." Dan was grinning awkwardly toward Sam. His eyes grew wide at what Dan was implying. He quickly opened his mailbox and his fears were confirmed. There was an e-mail with the subject line: **Thank you for your interest in the Other World**. He quickly skimmed the mail, but the long and short of it was he had been signed up through that weird website and would receive a link to the app. Sam was flabbergasted. He had just checked his mail before he left. Dan was crafty; he had waited for him to leave the house before signing him up.

He sighed an extremely long sigh as he brought his palm to his forehead, "…I hate you"

Dan was just in a giggle fit after seeing Sam's reaction. He calmed down long enough to just shrug off Sam's remark, "Heh, you can't hate me; I'm the only one who hangs out with you."

"Well, I guess I gotta go along with your stupid plan now," he glared long and hard at Dan before throwing his arms in the air, "How did I know you were going to do this?"

"It'll be just for kicks man," Dan said with a grin plastered on his face.

"Right," Sam said in a drawn out manner. He didn't necessarily agree with Dan's assessment of the situation.

The finished their game and drinks and continued their small talk until it came time for them to go their separate ways.

The days had started to get noticeably shorter and cooler as the last few days of summer came rolling by. As twilight was setting in on the town of Danann, Sam plugged in his headphones and began to listen to Dan's new work. It was another great work and he found himself bobbing his head as he was walking down the street. He knew how to drive, but the town's humble size didn't really require it.

As he was walking home, the streetlights started to flicker on, but across the street something peculiar caught his eye. It was a dark blue door with ornate silver trimmings. It looked out of place next to a local convenience store. Sam was pretty sure the door wasn't there before, and the strangest thing about it was that it glowed with bluish-silvery hued wisp coming off of it. Sam knew there was something odd about it, but the allure of the door drew him closer to it. Despite his mind telling him to back off, he found his hands resting on the door. As soon as he did, he felt his vision blur and everything began to fade away.

()()()()

Sam broke away from his stupor to find himself in a room swathed with a deep blue. To be more precise it seemed like he was in an extremely luxurious first class section of an airplane. It was a bit extravagant with curtains blue curtains lining each of the windows and crystalline light fixtures running down the fuselage. The whole thing seemed a bit indulgent.

He frantically began searching around and looked out a nearby window to see a dazzling starlight sky amongst the backdrop of a dark purple, almost black, sky. A full moon was placed in the center, and no matter how far the plane traveled, it seemed that the sky stood in place. Down bellow he could see rippling waves of the ocean reflecting the starlight sky and masses of what seemed to be ice drifts that were hued with a muted blue color.

_Is this real? _Immediately his recalled his meeting with Philemon and felt that this was a similar situation. He was in a strange new location that exhibited odd phenomenon after he had seemingly passed out from seeing something bizarre only moments earlier.

After calming down he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. He looked back to the center of the plane and noticed two individuals seated directly across from him.

_How did I miss them?_ One was an odd looking elderly gentleman dressed in a suit, with a long hook nose, balding white hair, and bulging eyeballs. His hands were folded underneath his chin. The other was a pale young woman dressed in a flight attendant's outfit that was the same shade of blue as the room itself. She had long white hair and had a single, golden colored eye visible as her other was presumably hidden behind her hair.

_Yea, it is official; I'm going insane. First time I black out I meet that weirdo Philemon, and now I'm seeing these…interesting individuals._

"Ah…it seems we have a new guest," spoke the old gentleman. He perked up after further observing Sam, "And it seems he has met with a very important…individual." The hooked nose figure chuckled lightly and moved his hands.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is only available to those who are bound by a 'contract'. My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance," he motioned to the girl standing next to him, "This is my assistant, Justine."

The girl in the flight attendant's outfit took a long look at Sam seeming to evaluate him with every pass of her eyes. He began to feel self-conscious of the amount of time she took judging him. She rolled her eyes. Her initial assessment seemed poor.

"Pleased to meet you," she said with boredom.

_You don't have to sound so disappointed…_ Sam thought to himself. Normally he didn't care about what others thought about him, but her snide demeanor toward him bothered him a bit.

"Uh, thanks," Sam was hesitant for a moment before realizing he should probably extend a greeting of his own. "Oh right, my name is Samuel Locke, Sam for short."

"I see. Tell me, do you believe in fortune telling?" asked the long nosed man.

_Before today? Not particularly. Now though, I may as well see what this is all about. _Sam normally wasn't interested in the occult or any sort of superstitious nonsense. However, with this second occurrence he decided to at least pay some attention to whatever fortune the elderly gentleman was going to conjure up for him.

On the table in front of him, Igor conjured up a set of cards, looked up at Sam with his grin still plastered on his face as if he knew what he was thinking and spoke up again, "Each reading is done with the same cards, but each time the outcome is different." With just a wave of his arm, the cards were then placed on the table facedown. He looked back at Sam again, "Just like the growth and life of every person, no?"

Igor flipped the first card over and began his fortune telling. "The Emperor, in the upright position. This card represents 'leadership' and 'authority'. The card representing the future beyond that is… the Hanged Man, in the upright position." The grin that Sam had come to associate with the long nose fellow slipped slightly as Igor seemed to take a moment to finalize his thoughts. "It seems that you will be a leader to the many relationships that you will form and nurture during your journey, but you will eventually be forced to view the world in a different way and make difficult choices in order to defend those relationships."

_Heh, now this person is starting to sound like everyone else today. So strangers have to have a say about my personal life?_ Sam just shook his head and decided to chime in.

"I see. You mentioned a 'contract' and another person. Could you explain what you meant?" Sam felt a bit rude speaking out like that, but if he was going to get answers he needed any sort of pause way to get a word in edgewise.

Igor nodded, "They both go hand in hand. By meeting my benefactor and agreeing to hold yourself responsible for your actions, you have formed a 'contract' with this room. That meeting gave you the power of the Wild Card."

"And what is the 'Wild Card'?" Every answer that Sam got from these mysterious people just raised more questions for him.

"Everything will be revealed in due time. For now just know that the coming year is going to be a turning point in your destiny, and if you fail to prevent an upcoming catastrophe, you and the ones you hold dear will no longer have a future. My duty is to provide assistance to our guest, in order for you to have the strength to stop the dark changes to the world."

Igor raised his hand as Sam was about to ask another question, signaling that their time together was coming to a close, "The next time we meet, I'll be able to answer any further questions you have, but for now just be prepared for the upcoming trials."

With that the surrounding environment began to fade from Sam's view as a white warm light began to envelop him, returning him to his previous location.

()()()()

_Saturday, September 3, 2011_ / _?_ / _00__:00 AM_

A short hooded individual with a feminine frame was seen flanked with two taller figures persons, who were also wearing hoods. The already odd sight was compounded by the fact that the smaller individual was slightly hovering above the ground. They were traveling down an abandoned street at the dead of night. The street was overgrown with foliage and a thick, murky, green fog surrounded the area. However the figures seemed to be unperturbed by the strange setting as they kept walking down the dimly lit road.

As they continued down the foggy road two blob-like shadowy figures could be seen trailing them. The trio continued unabated, seemingly oblivious to their pursuers, before stopping at what seemed to be a town center. The two stalking blobs made their way toward the three individuals. Slowly creeping up behind them, the blobs began to transmogrify into masked, floating spheres with enormous mouths and their tongues flailing around. The two monsters reared up to attack the hooded trio.

The two taller individuals glanced at the each other and then turned to the shorter, one who simply nodded and floated further forward. The monsters lunged at the trio, but the taller individuals quickly spun around and swiftly dodged the creatures' attacks. As they moved into position, they pulled down their hoods revealing a pair of masks. One mask adorned an enraged look. It was a fiery red and its eyes wore a glare and its mouth showed gritting teeth. The other mask was white as a bone and wore a blank, emotionless expression.

The individual with the red mask pulled out a pistol and began to cackle wildly as he rapidly pelted the monster with bullets, while the white masked fellow unsheathed a rapier and lunged straight into the creature with the blade. Both monsters fell to the ground and dissipated into a black mist and the two masked entities put away their weapons.

The one with the red mask grunted, "Hmph. That was too damn easy. Stupid-ass shadows think they can sneak up on us like that?"

Clapping could be heard as a black figure began walking toward the trio. The two masked individuals quickly brandished their weapons against the new arrival, but the smaller female walked forward and raised her hand, motioning the two to lower their weapons. They complied and stood aside.

"Impressive and without even using your powers" said the shadowy figure smugly. Its shape was obscured by shadows, but its eyes were glowing with a sickly yellow hue.

"They were pushovers," rebutted the gun toting, red masked character. The white masked swordsman didn't speak but simply nodded in agreement. The black being just grinned as it looked at the two.

There was a bit of a pause before the female figure finally spoke up, "I see you have returned."

The glowing eye figured turned to the feminine figure, "Of course. I just wanted to speak with the Fair Lady about our…potential arrangement," its eyes were boring into the shorter cloaked figure, "After all it is only just that you consider it, seeing how I woke you from your slumber all those years ago…my Fair Lady." He finished with a definitive lack of respect toward the floating, hooded female.

The woman shook her head, "While I appreciate your associate's work on the computer program and the information about your…rival and his exploits, I believe I made it clear that we shall proceed in our own fashion. Rest assured that, in time, everything will proceed as I have foreseen."

A scoff could be heard from the black figure as he turned around and started to walk away from the three of them, "My Lady, you are treading on ground that is well above a being of your station. You may have some age on you, but I know humanity far better than you ever will."

"Then why help me? According to your reputation, you are not one to let those who oppose your plans go unabated," she warily questioned the being.

The being paused for a moment before turning his head toward her, "For fun. I have multiple plans. While this does have the potential to help me with my goals, I consider it more of an amusing side project. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I have set everything up. It is just up to you to do with it as you will." With that the creature vanished leaving the three behind.

"That beast is infuriating! How dare he belittle me! Well we are not his tools and we shall not let him use us as such!" came an outburst from the one that the shadowy figure referred to as the Fair Lady.

The red masked gunman just shrugged. "Tsk, he's just riling you up. Personally, I just can't wait to get started and see some more damn action! These Shadows just aren't worth me the time."

The Fair Lady, who had calmed herself after her short outburst, turned to the red masked man, "Please curb your violent tendencies my child. You will have your chance to test your skills soon. Return to your fellows, your entrance will be soon enough. In the meantime I have something to discuss with him." She motioned toward the white masked individual.

"Tch, whatever. Hey brat, make sure you head back with us sooner rather than later. You know how the others get," the red masked individual put up his hood as began to head toward a domed building in the distance.

She turned to the swordsman, who remained silent throughout the entire conversation, "My dear, I want to discuss your role in our future endeavor."

He made a short bow to her. Afterward he put on his hood and replied, "Yes Mother."

* * *

A/N: I'm so sorry that this took so long to get out to everyone. It had been a roller coaster of hell these last two months, but I won't bore you with the details. It is a bit long, but hopefully it'll draw enough intrigue until you actually will be able to see the Personas. As usual please let me know what you think and let me know how I can improve. I want to get a fun and intriguing story out for you guys, so please let me know where I can improve.

I have chapter 3 completed, and it just needs to be proofed. I'll try to get that submitted by next week. I'm about a quarter of the way done with Chapter 4. It has gone a bit faster since we're getting to the exciting parts.

Also, I'll go ahead and start leaving social link ranks down here to track Sam's progress with people. It was something I talked about with MoldyJellyBean early on in his story, and thought it was probably the easiest way to incorporate it without being forced or drawing you out of the story.

_Fool (The Team): 0+1 =1_

_Magician (Daniel Park): 0+1=1_

_Justice (Glenn Townsend): 0+1=1_

_Hierophant (The Townsend Parents): 0+1=1_


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